Metabolic and Mental Health
Turn off the Hunger Switch and Enhance the Satiety Signals with 7 Lifestyle Habits.
Solving the paradoxical enigma of hunger can improve our health and life satisfaction.
Purpose of the Article
This article aims to introduce the importance of hunger feeling from a holistic health perspective. I also offer seven practical ways to address the situation sustainably.
My goal is to raise awareness of physical and emotional hunger by providing customizable solutions to increase satiety with healthy lifestyle habits.
The Paradoxical Situation of Hunger Signals
As a potent emotion hardwired in the brain, hunger affects our thoughts and behavior. Like other emotions, hunger signals are also created by the primitive brain, particularly the hypothalamus. Therefore, the neocortex (thinking brain) has little say about it.
This means that even though our thinking brain might influence the old brain, coping with the hunger emotion can be very difficult for most of us if we don’t know its origin. Thus, we need a mindful approach to hunger that might increase our willpower.
Since the body cannot distinguish between false and real alarms, a complicated and paradoxical situation puts us in a vulnerable position is created.
A real alarm is needed, but false alarms can confuse the body. If we keep having false alarms making us crave food even if the body does not need it, we gain unnecessary visceral fat, get obese, and develop metabolic disorders.
One of the viable solutions is to use the body’s capabilities to reduce the signals from the primitive brain and also use the thinking brain to influence the old brain depicting we are in control.
For example, if we awfulize the hunger feeling with our thinking brain, the hunger signals can get even more potent and amplify to take immediate action. We might falsely believe that we were paradoxically dying from starvation even amid abundance.
Based on this theoretical knowledge, I’d like to introduce seven practical ways to reduce hunger signals' frequency, intensity, and adverse effects. First, I’d like to briefly clarify a critical point to understand real and false hunger.
Physical versus Emotional Hunger
Understanding the difference between physical and emotional hunger is vital. When we distinguish the difference, managing them might be easier and more efficient.
Physical hunger indicates that the body needs energy and nutrition as the power stores get empty. Emotional hunger might occur even if we have plenty of energy and nutrition.
So, emotional hunger is a kind of false signal that we need to understand and address differently. Emotional hunger is a desire, but physical hunger is a need.
Even if we address the energy and nutrition requirements of the body, our appetite might deceive us into eating more unnecessarily.
Another helpful framework is understanding the difference between two concepts: hunger and appetite. Hunger is a physiological reaction that the body and mind generate to inform us that we need to eat.
Appetite might be caused by hunger. However, we might have a growing appetite to eat even if the body does not need food for energy or building blocks. So appetite is more emotional response affected by other factors.
Please note that appetite suppressants might have use cases if prescribed by qualified healthcare professionals after diligent assessment.
However, arbitrary use of them might be risky as they are not natural, in my opinion. Rather than intervene in the body’s decisions, we should trust the intelligence of our biological system and allow them to naturally suppress hunger.
I cover both concepts under the seven headings as they address both hunger and appetite. These seven points offer a holistic approach to health as they cover both body and mind.
1 — Make the body leptin sensitive.
Leptin is the most crucial hormone to feel satiety. From my experience, reviews, and observations, patients with leptin resistance face severe hunger and craving problems.
Leptin is a signaling hormone for satiety. If this hormone does not work well in the body, we never feel satisfaction from our food and always feel hungry. The technical term for this hormone’s non-functioning aspect is leptin resistance.
Leptin resistance means that the body has an adequate amount of leptin hormone, but the signals do not reach the brain. For example, obese people have more leptin in their bodies than others but cannot control their hunger due to leptin resistance.
We need to understand the hormonal imbalance. For example, when leptin signals get problematic, another hormone, ghrelin, will make us feel hungry. I touch on this point in item #6 (mindfulness).
It is well documented that we keep consuming calories if we cannot control our hunger due to leptin resistance. Even if we exercise non-stop, burning excessive calories through workouts is inefficient. Therefore, we cannot lose fat and gain even more.
Another critical point is consuming an adequate amount of healthy fats in our diet, as leptin is made up of fat molecules. Therefore extremely low-fat diets do not work. When I was on low-fat diets, I had extreme hunger and food cravings giving me unbearable nightmares.
I documented my experience and reviews of leptin resistance and how to address it in an article titled Make the Body Leptin-Sensitive to Lose Visceral Fat With a Simple Metabolic Shift.
2 — Optimize the cortisol hormone.
After leptin resistance, the most significant effect on hunger is elevated cortisol levels. The body increases the cortisol hormone when it senses stress. The more stress we have, the more cortisol the body releases.
When we experience excessive cortisol in the bloodstream, the body mainly uses glucose as energy. Cortisol generates more glucose to address the stressful situation.
I explained this further in item 5, as sleep deprivation significantly increases cortisol production. In addition, excessive exercise, such as prolonged cardio, can also increase cortisol levels and therefore cause hunger.
I documented my findings and experience with elevated cortisol in an article titled Optimize Cortisol to Melt Belly Fat and Keep Lean Muscles with Three Tips.
3 — Address the elevated glucose and insulin resistance problems.
Glucose fluctuation is one of the leading causes of excessive hunger and food fluctuations. When our blood glucose drops quickly, we feel terrible hunger pangs.
For example, I felt ravenous shortly after each meal and snack when I was frequently eating three main meals and three snacks.
I remember sad moments like I used to tell my colleagues I was starving two hours after lunch. They said it was impossible as I ate only two hours ago. They were right.
Nowadays, I don’t eat 22 hours in my one-meal-a-day plan, and I don’t even feel any hunger as my blood glucose level is stabilized. It does not go up and down quickly as it used to in frequent eating. Therefore, I find time-restricted eating with a ketogenic diet valuable as it gives me a better hormonal balance.
Related to the effects of blood glucose, insulin resistance caused by excessive and prolonged glucose in the bloodstream can also increase hunger. Insulin resistance can also lead to leptin resistance.
4 — Use the power of movement.
The body needs movement. Exercise creates beneficial neurotransmitters that we call good feel chemicals in the brain.
Movement can balance our hormones and neurotransmitters. Those people who have sedentary life feel hungrier, especially emotionally.
Of course, excessive exercise can increase appetite as it raises cortisol (stress hormone) significantly. However, adequate exercise can balance cortisol and other hormones reducing acute stress and preventing the accumulation of stress.
5 — Get restorative sleep daily.
Sleep is critical for health. It also plays a crucial role in appetite management. When we are sleep deprived, we feel excessive hunger.
One reason is that sleep deprivation can substantially increase the cortisol hormone due to increased stress and anxiety, leading to emotional eating.
Even if the body does not need energy and more nutrition, we feel excessive hunger and even food cravings when sleep-deprived. In short, stress and anxiety might cause false hunger alarms in the body and the brain.
6 — Use the power of mindfulness and eat slowly.
It takes at least 20 minutes for the brain to sense the required food intake, such as macronutrients and micronutrients.
For example, if the body needs 100 grams of protein and 30 grams of fat, but if we consume 300 grams of proteins and 90 grams of fat in 10 minutes, the body does not sense the effects of these macronutrients, and the hunger signals continue even if we triple the amount of food intake.
However, if we consume these amounts within 30 minutes and more, we feel satisfied. Therefore, eating slowly and chewing food as often as possible can significantly contribute to eating less and being more satisfied.
As mentioned in item one, when leptin is inadequate, or leptin signals do not work due to leptin resistance, ghrelin runs the show. However, ghrelin signals come and go. It does not keep running constantly. It fluctuates.
Knowing this fact is important because when we act mindfully, we can recognize the hunger signals on and off with ghrelin fluctuations. So a mindful approach to eating and fasting can help manage the effects of ghrelin.
In addition, staying mindful can reduce stress and anxiety, which reduces cortisol and ghrelin production. When we are under constant pressure or sleep-deprived, we feel starving. So, controlling cortisol can contribute to the control of ghrelin.
Therefore, mindful eating is valuable to weight management and overall health, well-being, and life satisfaction. Meditating three times a day empowers me to control my hunger effortlessly and increase my life satisfaction.
7 — Develop healthy relationships.
Our relationship with food, people, and the environment can affect our hunger and satiety. Seeing food as nutrition and fuel or seeing it as a pacifier of unpleasant emotions can make a massive difference in appetite control.
Our relationship with others also affects our hunger and satiety. If we have unhealthy relationships with others, they affect our thoughts and emotions. We look for love that we missed in our relationship in food. So toxic relationships can cause emotional eating problems.
The environment we live in also plays a crucial role. Eating in a pleasant and salubrious environment can satisfy our needs as we can be in a better mood. Likewise, consuming our food in an unpleasant and unhealthy environment can affect our mood and cause cravings, especially for food with empty calories.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Physical hunger is essential for our survival. If we don’t feel hungry, we will not know when the body needs energy and nutrients to survive.
However, emotional hunger confuses the body and gives unnecessary calories and nutrients that the body does not need. When we feed the body with excessive food, it stresses the body and breaks homeostasis.
More specifically, our hormones get imbalanced and cause severe metabolic issues, also affecting our mental health. Emotional eating coupled with sedentary and stressful life can lead to obesity and metabolic disorders such as metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Therefore, learning how to turn off the hunger switch and increase satiety signals with healthy lifestyle habits can be valuable. This capability can put us in a metabolically advantaged position.
Nevertheless, some people might have exceptions where lifestyle changes do not work due to underlying health conditions. Those individuals need medical intervention and support from qualified healthcare professionals.
I conclude this story with ten helpful takeaway points reflecting holistic health principles.
Takeaways
1 — Make the body leptin sensitive.
2 — Consume an adequate amount of healthy fats and bioavailable proteins.
3 — Refrain from excessive refined carbs and empty calories. We can overeat carbs but it is difficult to overconsume proteins and fats.
4 — Improve glucose balance and make the body insulin sensitive.
5 — Lower unnecessary stress and address elevated cortisol issues with help from qualified healthcare professionals such as endocrinologists.
6 — Get an adequate amount of restorative sleep daily.
7 — Lower the unnecessary stress by taking breaks and slowing down when needed.
8 — Undertake an adequate amount of exercise suiting your needs.
9 — Eat and act mindfully.
10 — Improve your relationship with food, people, and the environment.
Final Words
I hope these practical points and holistic health principles can help you control your appetite, recognize real hunger, and enhance your life satisfaction.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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